‘We need to balance power, eco needs’

NAGA, Cebu, Philippines—President Aquino on Monday called for a balance between the need to protect the environment and the need for a steady power supply.

“We need to strike a balance. Would you prefer not to have power—or deal with concerns on coal ash which can be monitored and addressed?” said Mr. Aquino in a news conference after he inaugurated the Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC) coal-fired power plant in Naga, southern Cebu, Monday morning.

In his speech at the inauguration, the President noted that there were ways to mitigate the effects of coal use on the environment.

“The power plant we inaugurate today complies with the Clean Air Act and is very friendly to the environment. I commend Kepco for taking into consideration the effects beneficial to the environment in doing their business,” Mr. Aquino said.

“In Cebu, where the economy’s growth is so evident, this power plant will help keep up with increasing demand,” the President said.

“Now, the Visayas can even afford to share excess power generating capacity to Luzon, which speaks volumes, again, of the progress we have all made,” he added.

The P20–billion Kepco power plant—on a 10–hectare site here leased from the National Power Corp.—and other coal plants in Cebu have generated opposition from local environmental groups that have filed a case against them in a Mandaue court to stop the plants’ operations.

KSPC is a joint venture between Kepco Philippines (60 percent) and SPC Power Corp. (40 percent).

“Today, we are celebrating a milestone of our project in Cebu that will put an end to intermittent brownouts that are holding back development,” KSPC president Lee-Bok Yull said. Irene R. Sino-Cruz, Inquirer Visayas